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Miller Magazine takes the pulse of the milling machinery industry at IDMA

24 May 20225 min reading

Miller Magazine took the pulse of the industry at IDMA Exhibition, which brings the grain and feed milling industries together. The Miller team met with the stakeholders of the sector, of which importance has been better understood during the pandemic, gave ear to their problems and shed light on the latest developments in the sector.

Istanbul hosted an important event in the milling sector in March. IDMA Exhibition, one of the world's largest meeting points for milling machinery, grain and pulses processing industry, took place for the ninth time on 10-12 March 2022 at Istanbul Expo Center. The event provided a unique networking platform for all the interested parties. Nearly 500 brands from various countries including Turkey, Germany, China, the United States of America, England and Italy, demonstrated their new technologies, solutions, and services to visitors. The exhibitors found the opportunity to generate brand awareness, meet new customers and assess the market potential.

Speaking at the opening of the event, Turkey Exporters Assembly (TIM) Chairman Ismail Gülle said that it is important to organize the event in this critical period when the vital role of the agriculture and food processing industry is better understood. Noting that exports are an indispensable instrument for Turket, Gülle underlined that every work done and every signature made in the event is a win.

Ali Kalkan, Chairman of the Board of Parantez Fairs, said: “IDMA is a fair that has become a brand in the flour, feed and grain processing machinery industry. With the bridges it has built between the producers and the investors for years, this event has introduced the sector worldwide, increasing competition and bringing quality to the sector. In the upcoming period, we will continue to serve and add value to the industry and to be the most important platform of the industry's international trade with new fairs in South Africa, Morocco, Russia and South America."

We had the opportunity to listen to the exhibitors at the event. We talked to milling technology suppliers about the state of the industry, the effects of the pandemic and the latest trends in the industry. Many suppliers pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic once again proved the critical importance of agricultural production, the grain industry and the food processing industry. While the pandemic negatively affected many sectors, technology manufacturers serving the food processing industry said that they increased their sales last year. Furthermore, some stated that they were booked up with full production capacity until the end of 2023 with the orders received.

The matter that industry stakeholders were not happy with the most was that commodity prices reached an all-time high due to the supply bottlenecks since the beginning of the pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war. The war increased the risks that started before the pandemic and evolved into greater uncertainties with the break out of the pandemic and spoilt the sector’s appetite for investment. Therefore, we can say that the suppliers are experiencing the shock of the war. Ongoing inflation pressure coupled with increasing geopolitical risks complicates pricing. For example, two suppliers we met at the exhibition told us that they could not quote prices to the customers who came to them to buy machinery due to the extreme volatility in the commodity market.

It is worth remembering at this point that the two countries are among the significant markets for the Turkish machinery industry. Russia is among the top five largest markets of the Turkish machinery industry. Last year, Turkey exported machinery worth 904 million dollars to this country, including milling technologies. And 342 million dollars of machinery was exported to Ukraine.


Russia and Ukraine are also among the prominent suppliers of high-quality steel needed by the milling machinery industry. It is worried that the two countries going out of the global supply network will upset the global balances.

Turkish suppliers also alarm that the impact of rising energy and personnel costs and commodity prices will drive the prices of machinery, which may adversely affect their global competitiveness.


While the milling machinery industry continues to expand and gain more importance; food safety, sustainability and digitalization stand out as hot topics for the industry. The suppliers we met at the exhibition stated that they accelerated their investments and R&D studies in these areas.

Consumers are now more conscious of where the food they eat comes from, and how and under what safety standards it is produced. The flour industry is no exception. Therefore, as food safety standards are getting tighter, suppliers are reviewing their machine designs to meet this demand.


Another topic is energy saving. Because energy cost is the second biggest item for flour industrialists following raw material cost. Many milling machinery manufacturers we talked to at IDMA said that they are working on energy-efficient machines/systems that will reduce electricity costs at the facilities. Let me give you a piece of good news here. Some of them will release their new systems to the market in the upcoming months.


Although our industry has made great strides in automation and digitalization, there is still a need for trained and experienced millers. IDMA leads the way in this regard, too. IDMA also serves as a platform for training of the qualified labor force that the milling, flour and feed sector need. Association of Grain and Pulses Processing Technologies, Storage and Analysis Systems (TABADER), which brings together the stakeholders of the milling industry under its roof, provided certified milling training at IDMA for the fourth time.

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